Method and system of providing caller identification with name

ABSTRACT

A system ( 20 ) for providing a caller identification with name service includes a destination service switching point ( 22 ) having a plurality of destination numbers ( 24 ). A switching control point ( 26 ) has a caller identification with name database ( 30 ) and a customer caller identification with name database ( 32 ). A signaling system seven link ( 28 ) connects the destination service switching point ( 22 ) to the switching control point ( 26 ).

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent issues from a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/191,916, filed Jul. 9, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,016,482, whichissued based on a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/429,460, filed Oct. 28, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,449,351.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to caller identification methods and moreparticularly to a method of providing caller identification with namewithin a customer group.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Caller identification (Caller ID) systems provide the subscriber withthe telephone number of the incoming call. In addition, these systemsprovide the date and time of the call and the caller's name. However,present caller ID methods do not provide the name of the caller when thecaller is inside of a corporation. When the caller is inside acorporation the caller ID system passes along only the corporation(organization) name. This information may be helpful if the call isplaced outside the corporation, but when the call is within thecorporation the information is not very helpful.

One solution has been to locate a name list for the corporation in acentral office switch. When a call is placed within the same corporation(centrex group), the switch does a lookup on a database associated withthe corporation and passes along the caller's name. Unfortunately, thisonly works for the corporation's telephones connected to a singleswitch. A call requiring transfer between two central office switcheswill only provide the corporation's name.

Thus there exists a need for a method of providing caller ID with namewithin a customer group that works across multiple central officeswitches or between LATAs (Local Access Transport Area).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telephone system capable of implementingthe invention in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a telephone system capable of implementingthe invention in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 3 & 4 are a flow chart of the steps in a method of providingcaller identification with name within a customer group in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 5 & 6 are a flow chart of the steps in a method of providingcaller identification with name within a customer group in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 7-9 are a flow chart of the steps in a method of providing calleridentification with name within a customer group in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of the steps in a method of providing calleridentification with name within a customer group in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 11 is a call flow chart of a method of providing calleridentification with name within a customer group in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is a method of providing caller identification with namewithin a customer group. In one embodiment of the invention a user dialsa destination telephone number. A call to the destination telephone isreceived at a service switching point and triggers. A query is sent to aswitching control point. The switching control point performs a lookupin a custom caller identification with name database. When the lookupreturns a caller name, a response is transmitted to the serviceswitching point that includes the caller name. The call to thedestination telephone number is terminated and the caller name isforwarded to the destination telephone number.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telephone system 20 capable ofimplementing the invention in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention. A destination service switching point (SSP) 22 has aplurality of destination numbers 24. The destination SSP 22 is connectedto a switching control point (SCP) 26 by a signaling system seven (SS7)link 28. The SCP 26 has a caller ID with name database 30 and a customcaller ID with name database 32. Standard caller ID with name serviceresults in a trigger when a call is placed to a telephone number 24subscribing to the service. The SSP 22 sends a query to the SCP 26requesting caller ID information. The SCP 26 does a lookup on the callerID with name database 30 and passes the caller's name, telephone number,date and time to the customer's telephone. Unfortunately, as explainedabove, the customer only receives an organization's name when the callis placed from an organization. Part of the reason for this is thatlarge organizations lease a group of telephone numbers and hand theseout to employees. As a result, the service provider does not have thename information. In addition, organizations have a tendency to moveemployees to new telephone numbers regularly.

The present invention allows an organization to provide employee names(caller's name) for calls within the organization. Calls placed outsidethe organization will only receive the organization's name. Theorganization provides a plurality of destination telephone numbers thatare to receive this service. When a call is placed to one of theplurality of destination numbers, the SSP 22 triggers. The SSP sends aquery to the SCP 26 requesting customer caller ID with name information.The SCP 26 performs a database lookup in the custom caller ID with namedatabase 32. When the call is within the organization, the lookup findsthe employee's name. The SCP 22 then sends a response to the SSP 22 thatincludes the employee's name. This information is forwarded to thedestination telephone.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a telephone system 40 capable ofimplementing the invention in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention. A calling telephone number 42 dials a destination telephonenumber. This information is received at an originating SSP 44. The SSP44 routes the call to a destination SSP 46. When the call is within thesame organization, then the destination telephone number 48 causes theSSP 46 to perform a termination trigger. The SSP 46 sends a query to aSCP 50 through a signal transfer point (STP) 52. The SCP 50 determinesthe services subscribed to by the telephone line 48 by finding thetelephone line 48 in a services database 51. In this case the servicesdatabase 51 shows that the destination number subscribes to customcaller ID with name service. The SCP 50 performs a lookup on the CCNAM(Custom Caller identification with NAMe) 54. The CCNAM 54 is apartitioned database so the lookup is only in the partition associatedwith the destination telephone number. If the calling telephone numberis in the database, then the employee's name is forwarded to the SCP 50.This information is then forwarded to the destination telephone 56. Theemployee's name is shown in the display 58.

Had the call been placed outside the organization such as a residentialtelephone 60 the lookup in the services database 51 would show that thetelephone number 60 subscribes to the standard caller ID with nameservice. The SCP performs a lookup in the CNAM (Caller ID with NAMe)database 62. The CNAM database 62 only provides the organization's name.The organization's name is shown in the display 64 of the telephone 60.In one embodiment, a customer enters user's names and telephone numbers.A service management system (SMS) 66 has a monitor 68 for entering thenames. The SMS 66 is connected to the SCP 50.

FIGS. 3 & 4 are a flow chart of the steps in a method of providingcaller identification with name within a customer group in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention. The process starts, step 100, byreceiving a call at a terminating service switching point (SSP) to aterminating directory number at step 102. The SSP triggers on theterminating directory number and sends a query to a switching controlpoint (SCP) at step 104. The SCP determines if the terminating directorynumber and the originating directory number are both part of a customergroup at step 106. When the terminating directory number and theoriginating directory number are both part of a customer group, a lookupis performed at step 108. At step 110 a caller name is forwarded to adestination telephone which ends the process at step 112.

In one embodiment, when the lookup does not return the caller name, acaller identification with name lookup is performed. A response with thecustomer group name is sent to the service switching point.

In one embodiment, when the calling party directory number is not in thecustomer caller identification with name database, the calleridentification with name lookup is performed.

In one embodiment the destination service switching point, executes atermination attempt trigger based on the destination telephone number.

In one embodiment the SCP determines if the destination telephone numberhas a custom calling name subscription. When the destination telephonenumber has the custom calling name subscription, a customer group isdetermined based on the destination telephone number. A lookup isperformed on a partition of the custom call identification with namedatabase associated with the customer group.

In one embodiment a plurality of user names associated with a pluralityof telephone numbers in the customer group are entered.

FIGS. 5 & 6 are a flow chart of the steps in a method of providingcaller identification with name within a customer group in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention. The process starts, step 120, bydialing a telephone number at step 122. A call to the destinationtelephone is received at a service switch point. The service switchingpoint triggers at step 124. A query is sent to the switch control pointat step 126. A lookup is performed in a custom caller with name databaseat step 128. When the lookup returns a caller name, a response thatincludes the caller name is transmitted to the service switching pointat step 130. The call is terminated to the destination telephone numberat step 132. At step 134 the caller name is forwarded to thedestination-telephone number which ends the process at step 136. In oneembodiment, when the terminating director number and the originatingdirectory number are not both part of the customer group, anorganization name is forwarded to the destination telephone number.

In one embodiment the SCP determines if the terminating directory numberhas a custom calling name subscription. When the terminating directorynumber has a custom calling name subscription, a customer group isdetermined based on the destination telephone number. A lookup on apartition of the custom caller identification with name databaseassociated with the customer group is performed. When the destinationtelephone number does not have the custom calling name subscription, alookup is performed on a caller identification with name database. Whenthe lookup on the partition of the customer caller identification withname database does not find a calling destination number, a response issent with a customer group name. When the lookup on the partition of thecustom caller identification with name database does not find a nameassociated with calling destination number, a customer group name issent.

FIGS. 7-9 are a flow chart of the steps in a method of providing calleridentification with name within a customer group in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention. The process starts, step 140, by dialing aterminating telephone number at step 142. A call to the terminatingtelephone number is received at a terminating service switching point atstep 144. A termination attempt trigger is executed at the terminatingservice switching point at step 146. A termination attempt query is sentto a switching control point from the termination service switchingpoint at step 148. The SCP determines if the terminating telephonenumber has a custom calling name subscription at step 150. When theterminating telephone number does have the custom calling namesubscription, a lookup in a custom caller identification with namedatabase is performed at step 152. When the lookup returns a callername, a response is transmitted to the service switch point thatincludes the caller name at step 154. The call to the destinationtelephone number is terminated (connected) at step 156. The caller nameis forwarded to the telephone number at step 158. When the lookup doesnot find an originating telephone number, a lookup is performed on thecaller identification with name lookup at step 160. At step 162 aresponse is sent with a customer group name to the service switchingpoint which ends the process at step 164.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of the steps in a method of providing calleridentification with name within a customer group in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention. The process starts, step 170, by anincoming call encountering a TAT (Termination Attempt Trigger) at theSSP at step 172. A termination attempt query is sent to the SCP at step174. The SCP determines if a CCNAM (Custom Caller identification withNAMe) subscription is found at step 176. When no subscription is foundthe process defaults to CNAM (Caller identification with NAMe) servicelogic at step 178. The process then terminates at step 180.

When the CCNAM subscription is found, it is determine if the callingparty ID is the same as the customer group at step 182. When the callingparty ID is not the same as the customer group, the process proceeds tostep 178. When the calling party ID is the same as the customer group,the authorize termination display test is populated with the callingparty name at step 184. At step 186, the authorize termination responseis sent to the SSP which ends the process at step 188.

FIG. 11 is a call flow chart of a method of providing calleridentification with name within a customer group in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention. The process starts when the calling partydials the DN (destination number) of the called party at step 200. TheSSP 222 recognizes the TAT assigned to the DN at step 224. The SSP sendsa termination attempt query to the SCP 226 at step 228. The servicelogic determines the call is an intracompany call and performs a CCNAMlookup at step 230. The SCP 226 sends an authorize termination commandhaving display text at step 232. The call is connected by the SSP 222and the display text is presented to the called party at step 234.

Thus there has been described a system and method of providing callername information for calls within large corporations. The system andmethod works across multiple central offices.

The methods described herein can be implemented as computer-readableinstructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium that whenexecuted by a computer will perform the methods described herein.

While the invention has been described in conjunction with specificembodiments thereof, it is evident that many alterations, modifications,and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light ofthe foregoing description. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace allsuch alterations, modifications, and variations in the appended claims.

1. A system for providing a caller identification with name service,comprising: a switching control point having a caller identificationwith name database and a custom caller identification with namedatabase, the switching control point to determine whether anoriginating number and a destination number are assigned by acommunication service provider to respective first and second devicesassociated with a same centrex subscriber entity as part of a centrexservice provided by the communication service provider to the subscriberentity, wherein the centrex service comprises a central office basedswitched telephone service between the first and second devices onbehalf of the subscriber entity, to choose between the custom calleridentification with name database and the caller identification withname database based on whether the originating and destination numbersare assigned to the subscriber entity, to query the chosen one of thecustom caller identification with name database and the calleridentification with name database to obtain caller identification withname information, and to provide the caller identification with nameinformation to a destination service switching point, the destinationservice switching point to provide the caller identification with nameinformation to the second device as part of the caller identificationwith name service; and a signaling system seven link connecting thedestination service switching point to the switching control point. 2.The system of claim 1, wherein the destination service switching pointhas a plurality of destination numbers and triggers on the destinationnumber.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the custom calleridentification with name database is partitioned into partitions.
 4. Thesystem of claim 3, wherein the partitions each define a set of telephonenumbers assigned to a respective subscriber entity.
 5. The system ofclaim 1, further including a services database in communication with theswitching control point.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the servicesdatabase includes an entry for a custom caller identification with nameservice.
 7. A switching control point apparatus comprising: a calleridentification with name database; a custom caller identification withname database; a processor; and a memory storing machine accessibleinstructions that, when executed, cause the processor to: determinewhether an originating number and a destination number are assigned by acommunication service provider to respective first and second devicesassociated with a same subscriber entity as part of a centrex serviceprovided by the communication service provider to the subscriber entity,wherein the centrex service comprises a central office based switchedtelephone service between the first and second devices on behalf of thesubscriber entity; choose between the custom caller identification withname database and the caller identification with name database based onwhether the originating and destination numbers are assigned to thesubscriber entity; query the chosen one of the custom calleridentification with name database and the caller identification withname database to obtain caller identification with name information; andprovide the caller identification with name information to a destinationservice switching point, the destination service switching point toprovide the caller identification with name information to the seconddevice as part of a caller identification with name service.
 8. Theapparatus of claim 7, wherein the custom caller identification with namedatabase is partitioned into partitions.
 9. The system of claim 8,wherein the partitions each define a set of telephone numbers assignedto a respective subscriber entity.
 10. A method comprising: determiningwhether an originating number and a destination number are assigned by acommunication service provider to respective first and second devicesassociated with a same subscriber entity as part of a centrex serviceprovided by the communication service provider to the subscriber entity,wherein the centrex service comprises a central office based switchedtelephone service between the first and second devices on behalf of thesubscriber entity; choosing between a custom caller identification withname database and a caller identification with name database based onwhether the originating and destination numbers are assigned to thesubscriber entity; querying the chosen one of the custom calleridentification with name database and the caller identification withname database to obtain caller identification with name information; andproviding the caller identification with name information to adestination service switching point, the destination service switchingpoint to provide the caller identification with name information to thesecond device as part of a caller identification with name service.